1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to microcontrollers, and more specifically, to an instruction set for a microcontroller which has robust multiple word instructions and a method therefor.
2. Background of the Invention
Presently, in some microcontrollers, all instructions are single word instructions. This means that a single word is used to inform the microcontroller of each specific operation to be performed. A problem with single word instructions is that they limit the amount of addressable memory space since single word instructions only have a limited number of address bits.
In order to increase the addressable memory space, multiple word instructions may be used. However, multiple word instructions create several different problems. First, some instructions that are used are SKIP instructions. For single word instructions this does not create a problem since the next word will generally be an executable instruction. Thus, the SKIP instruction will be set to skip one location. However, if multiple word instructions are used, the microcontroller needs to know how many words need to be skipped over in order to get to the next instruction to be executed. There may be severe speed limitations that result from requiring an advanced knowledge of the number of words in an instruction. This creates serious problems for those designing the microcontroller.
Another problem with using multiple word instructions is that the microcontroller may inadvertently jump to an unwanted location (i.e., in the middle of a multiple word instruction). Obviously, one would not want the microcontroller to execute an unwarranted portion of a multiple word instruction.
Therefore, a need existed to provide an improved instruction set for a microcontroller. The improved instruction set must increase the addressable memory space to be used by the microcontroller by allowing multiple word instructions to be used. The improved instruction set which uses multiple word instructions must signal the microcontroller where the next instruction to be executed is located in order to determine how many words need to be skipped over. The improved instruction set which uses multiple word instructions must also signal the microcontroller how many words need to be skipped over if the microcontroller inadvertently jumps to an unwanted location in the middle of a multiple word instruction.